Weekly Reader: The Illustrated Colonials: The Pact Book One by Tom Durwood; Beautifully Illustrated Strong Character Driven Start Of Series About 18th Century International Teens Getting Involved in America's Revolution

 Weekly Reader: The Illustrated Colonials: The Pact Book One by Tom Durwood; Beautifully Illustrated Strong Character Driven Start Of Series About 18th Century International Teens Getting Involved in America's Revolution

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Tom Durwood's book, Kid Lit: An Introduction to Children's Literature,  dissects children's literature and explores the deeper meaning in many of our pop culture touchstones such as Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, Superhero comics, Pixar and Disney animated films, Afrofuturistic novels, early adventure novels and comics like Tarzan and Tintin, and the Star Wars franchise. 

My personal theory is in putting the book together and researching various works and essays, Durwood thought "I could do that. I could write my own children's book series with a plucky group of young adventurers. Stronger themes that could be hidden inside the plot and the readers will appreciate the characters and adventures and afterwards may understand something." 

Well I for one am glad that Durwood accepted the challenge. 

Durwood's wrote The Illustrated Colonials, an alternate history in which six young people from different countries in 1775 are selected to attend The School for Young Monarchs in Alsace Lorraine. Inspired by the Enlightenment theories of liberty, freedom, and equality, the students learn to fight against tyranny and see each other as equals. They are to take those lessons and fight for them when they return to their home countries.

The first book, The Pact, is a beautifully illustrated strong character driven novel that introduces us to the six protagonists, the school, and the conflicts that result between the students and others. The themes of liberty, equality, community, and cooperative partnership are also revealed in The Pact.

The group of six are a diverse bunch, from different countries and backgrounds, all with different reasons for registering at the school. They are: 

Jiayi Mei Ying, from China-The daughter of a prominent family that manages the waters, lands, and operations on the Yunhe Canal territories. She arrogantly lords over the family's subordinates. Her high handedness causes her grandfather to disinherit her. The local teacher in Zhengzhou begins teaching phrases like "common sense" and "no taxation without representation." Mei Ying is uncertain but figures that she couldn't do worse than attend the School For Young Monarchs and maybe become a better leader.

Gilbert Marie John Paul Joseph Roche Yves Gilbert du Motier, Chevalier of the Noailles Dragoons  from France-Gilbert's name will be recognizable to Revolutionary War buffs. He is from a noble aristocratic family and is  a dragoon fighting in battle. Despite his wealth and privilege, he is not blind to the troubles faced by the poor. He is also inspired by the revolutionary ideals and his own sense of adventure to attend the School For Young Monarchs.

Sheyndil Czerzinsky AKA Shay from Russia-A former peasant, Shay is interested in new technologies and planting seeds for agricultural production. Her interests in technology and agriculture are shared in higher places particularly by Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia. Catherine decides to patronage the young woman so she can represent Russia at the school.

Leo Krummensee-Grabmaler from Brandenburg-Leo is the son of the Heir of Hohenzollem, Lesser Magistrate of the Margraviate of Brandenburg. The arrogant noble and soldier is informed that a petition is being circulated where he and his sister could lose their titles and estates. Leo's sister plans on marrying while Leo decides to lay low in Alsace Lorraine and attend the School.

Prince Mahmoud Mustafahn Hasan Husameddin Cezayrili, third son of the sixth wife of Sultan Abdulhamid Caliph of all Muslims, Secular Ruler from the Ottoman Empire, Turkey- Mahmoud is the spoiled overweight son of the Sultan. His mother is tired of the boy having everything handed to him. She wants him to study at the School to prepare for his eventual role as Sultan.

Will Oldenbarnevelt from the Netherlands-Will is the youngest son of a prosperous merchant. Since his father declared that Will's older brother, Casper, will inherit the family business, Will gets nothing. Will is well read, shy, and a strategic chess master, his mother points out. She suggests that Will at least get a smaller trade route in the Bosporus. Before that though he has to attend a certain school.

By their powers combined, the six set out to become heroes in their day, sort of an 18th century version of the Planeteers Minus Captain Planet. (Maybe more like Captain Liberty?)  At the school, the students learn about the Enlightenment philosophies and start practicing them in their daily lives. They begin to work together and use their talents in fighting, engineering, agriculture, scholarly research, finance, and leadership to aid each other. 

There are a few times when they are challenged by opposing forces such as former enemies from their countries and soldiers who represent forces who  are opposed to this idea of togetherness. The Super Six learn to fight alongside each other as a team putting those values that they have been taught to practical use.

Of course fighting as a team doesn't mean that they will always get along. Personality conflicts abound almost as soon as they meet. It begins right away when Mei Ying defends Will from a bit of physical joshing by Gilbert. She gives the Frenchman a serious kick earning respect from Will, Leo, Sheyndil, and oddly enough Gilbert.

The students get into plenty of arguments such as when Sheyndil, Leo, and Gilbert fight about what it actually means to be a royal and who in their group deserves that moniker. 

Mahmoud and Gilbert get into a particularly fierce disagreement about whether servants do or should respect their employers and what rights that they have. These conflicts show how the characters were raised and how their upbringing shaped them so far. However, the fact that they are at that school and able to listen to each other shows that they can reject some of those limiting beliefs from their childhoods and evolve and grow as people.

It is genuinely heartwarming when this group accepts each other's friendship to the point that they make a pact to always aid when one is in trouble. They would send for the others and they would come running.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the beautiful illustrations. Various art forms including portraits, photographs, and prints went into this work. The names of the illustrators themselves including Timothee Mathon, Sahab Sewarty, Jessica Taylor, and Mai Nguyen et al fit two pages. Many authors stick with one illustrator, but Durwood uses several. This fits into the overall narrative of the book. 

While the story is set in an alternate historical continuity, it is also treated like a real event. One of the students actually was a real person. So like any famous people from another time, there may be several pictorial depictions of them. After all, how many times has George Washington or Benjamin Franklin been captured in art?

The various pictures show the six characters and their world as one that could have happened.

Through the students' relationship in The Pact, we learn how history could have been different. Maybe from that, the alternate present could be one of equality, cooperation, and understanding. This book perhaps could be a guide on turning that alternate possibility into a reality in this timeline.

Weekly Reader: Gilded Summers (Newport's Gilded Age Book 1) by Donna Russo Morin; Moving Novel About Friendship Reveals Gilded Age Gender, Immigration, and Economic Conflicts

 

Weekly Reader: Gilded Summers (Newport's Gilded Age Book 1) by Donna Russo Morin; Moving Novel About Friendship Reveals Gilded Age Gender, Immigration, and Economic Conflicts

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: There are many comparisons between now and The Gilded Age. Among them are the strong economic divides between rich and poor, the prejudice between Americans and immigrants, and the questions towards gender roles and how much progress women have actually made over the years.

Those struggles are remembered and paralleled into real modern life within the novel, Gilded Summers by Donna Russo Morinn, the first book in Morin's Newport's Gilded Age series. The series involves two women from different backgrounds who become best friends and have to deal with many of the issues of the day such as the division between the haves and have nots, the struggles that immigrants face when settling in the United States, and the fight for women's rights.

In 1895, 15 year old Pearl Worthington lives an upper class privileged life in Newport, Rhode Island. (Fun fact: Gilded Age Newport is also an important setting in the book Mistress Suffragette by Diana Forbes.). Pearl seems to have a life that most would envy: a large mansion, summers spent in the country, the current fashions. and her family's friends have famous last names like Astor, Oelrichs  Fish, and Vanderbilt. She appears to have an enviable life but nothing can be further from the truth.

Pearl has a talent for drawing and illustration but cannot pursue it in any meaningful way except as an ornament for a potential marriage. She would love to study at the Rhode Island School of Design. Maybe pursue her art to a professional career like acquaintances from similar wealthy homes, Mary Cassatt and Edith Jones (later Wharton).

Pearl is weary of the small mindedness, malicious gossip, and verbal cruelty of the social set. She longs for the freedom granted to men like her brother, Clarence, in which they can step out of line and misbehave and no one would think anything of it (in fact many encourage that behavior in men) but a woman is marked for life.

Pearl is supported by her father, Orin, who is very busy but encouraging to her pursuits. However, Orin is dominated by his wife, Milicent. Milicent is emotionally abusive towards Pearl and expects her to fulfill her expected role to marry wealth, have rich children, and live the life of a society matron no questions asked and no arguments made.

Meanwhile, the Worthingtons take on new servants, widower Felice Costa, and his daughter, 15 year old Ginevra both who recently emigrated from Italy. Felice is hired to teach a very reluctant Clarence to play the violin. (Felice is a gifted violinist and luthier.) Ginevra is hired as a house maid to mostly sew clothes. Eventually, Ginevra moves up to becoming Pearl's lady's maid. 

Like Pearl, Ginevra also feels limited by her role in society. Most of the Newport elite treat their servants like robots. They don't talk to them. They just expect them to serve their food, clean their houses, take care of their children, and so on in their own world only to come out of it to collect their payment. To the wealthy, people like Felice and Ginevra are nobodies and treated like nobodies. Ginevra watches Pearl and her friends and family, as well as the handsome men paraded in front of Pearl and feels like she lives in a separate existence from others. They are depersonalized and made to feel less than human.

That depersonalization exists among the servants as well. Many like Mrs. Briggs, the housekeeper, look down on the Costas for being new arrivals and on the lower levels of the service pecking order. Even kitchen maid, Greta, who is among the lowest in the servants' hierarchy, mocks Ginevra's accent and thinks of her as stupid. 

The Costas are also judged as immigrants. Many German and Irish immigrants, especially ones who arrived years ago look down on the new Italian arrivals. People mock their accents and some want them to return to their own country. 

Like Pearl, Ginevra dreams of a different life. Her talent for sewing leads to an interest in fashion. She begins to make Pearl's clothes creating embellishments and adding a personal style. She has dreams of being a fashion designer or opening a clothing boutique but like Pearl feels limited by her gender, economic status, and ethnicity.

Despite their differences, Pearl and Ginevra develop a genuine friendship that looks past their statuses and sees the real women inside. The friendship between Pearl and Ginevra is beautiful because it helps them get past their previous limitations. Together, they share their talents as Ginevra observes Pearl's sketchbook with awe and Pearl admires the beautiful gowns that Ginevra makes. They also talk about deeper issues like how they feel stifled by the people around them. Their friendship allows them to open up and see the world through different eyes.

Pearl and Ginevra are not only able to see their limited roles but those of the people around them. Pearl sees the "Swell Set" for what it really is and finds out what goes on inside the palatial Newport homes. She sees dissension and infidelity in marriages that are happy only in appearance. She and Ginevra see cheating spouses and the other half of the marriage that would rather look the other way than lose everything. They also see these same people look down and judge anyone else by the standards that even they can't live up to, such as when three society women including "The" Mrs. Astor, critique Milicent (the same set that she aspires to join). This is a few years before these women are also revealed to fall short of their own expectations and one files for divorce.

The two friends, particularly Ginevra, also experience first hand the sexism of the day when men feel like women are their property to do as they wish. This comes to a head when an intended fiance of Pearl's also wants Ginevra. He wouldn't mind marrying one and having the other as a mistress. His intentions eventually become violent but Pearl and Ginevra are there for each other in every way possible. Their friendship is strengthened by this incident and finally propel themselves to go after the freedom that they longed for.

Gilded Summers is a beautiful novel about how friendship can help see people beyond their race, ethnicity, sex, and income. Far from gilded, this book is pure gold.

 

Weekly Reader: From The Ashes (A Ravenwood Mystery) by Sabrina Flynn; Engaging Historical Mystery Looks Like The Beginning of A Beautiful Partnership

 

Weekly Reader: From The Ashes (A Ravenwood Mystery) by Sabrina Flynn; Engaging Historical Mystery Looks Like The Beginning of A Beautiful Partnership

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Sabrina Flynn's The Ravenwood Mysteries are sort of like what would happen if Sherlock Holmes died for real and John Watson and Irene Adler teamed up and took over the consulting detective business at good old 221B Baker Street.

The book, From The Ashes, is an engaging mystery which gives us two protagonists taking separate journeys on opposite sides of the law.

San Francisco detective Atticus James Riot has returned after a three year absence following the death of his partner and mentor, Zephaniah Ravenwood. Ravenwood's death cut Riot deeply and he is not sure that he can or should continue. However, like a police officer called to take one last case before retirement, Riot is called back into the fold. His associate, Tim, refers him to the case of Isobel Amsel Kingston, wife of attorney Alex Kingston who is reported missing while on her way to visit her family in Sausalito. Riot reluctantly takes the case.

 While Riot is investigating Isobel's disappearance, we also get to peer into what is going on with Isobel. She has managed to flee her kidnappers and other potential assailants. It eventually becomes clear that she isn't missing so much as she is escaping which calls into question her marriage to Kingston.

Isobel and Riot's stories do not physically converge until towards the end so that gives both characters chances to take charge of their own story and develop into interesting characters. Riot is a great detective, both intelligent and physically active, but he has a huge inferiority complex. He isn't afraid to dig and ask complicated questions until he finds out the truth. His first encounter with Kingston shows him as someone who isn't afraid to ask tough questions to anyone, no matter how rich, powerful, privileged, or intimidating that they are.

Riot also shows understanding and kindness to many of the economically disadvantaged and minorities as when he discovers Old Sue, an impoverished alcoholic is dead. She is his only link between Isobel's disappearance and her former life in Sausalito. He is upset about that missed opportunity but also treats Sue like a human being whose life had value. There are some implications that his dislike of the wealthy and powerful and concern for women, minorities, and the poor stems from his childhood, particularly something concerning his mother. This reason is not fully elaborated upon but helps explain a lot of his character and why he does everything that he can to make sure true justice is meted out to those who need it and who can't always trust the police or Pinkerton's (the latter of which Ravenwood and Riot once worked for) to bring justice forward.

One of Riot's biggest hindrances is not with a suspect or Isobel's family or husband. It's within himself. He is still haunted by Ravenwood's presence. Sometimes literally since the deceased detective appears in his dreams to criticize Riot's handling of the case or to offer suggestions. Now Riot could be haunted by Ravenwood's ghost (considering the other books that I have read that is a distinct possibility.), but more than likely that may not be the case. 

Ravenwood's presence is still strongly felt by Riot and those who knew him. The detective agency is still in his name. (Heck the mystery series is named after him even though he's been dead three years before this book begins.) Riot is insecure about following up to that legacy which is why he wants to retire after this case. Ravenwood's suggestions may not be messages from the dead but are instead steps that Riot already knows and doubts himself to follow. Ravenwood's visitations might be his own subconscious judging and advising him.

Besides Riot, we also follow Isobel's adventure and we do not see a damsel in distress. She is a pretty tough, competent and strong woman. In her desire to escape her marriage, she has many plans. She evades kidnappers in a clever and resourceful way and disguises herself to avoid being found. 

She also has many contacts who will help and lie for her if need be. One of them is her twin brother, Lotario. Isobel continued to maintain contact with him after he was revealed to be gay. That link between siblings makes him an ally that provides a helpful escape route for Isobel. Like Riot, her ability to treat others well particularly outsiders or those on the outer margins of society proves beneficial. 

Isobel's background as the only girl of several brothers in a wealthy but outdoorsy family allowed her much freedom. This childhood freedom gives her the opportunities to spend most of the book on her own avoiding capture by the police, Kingston, and Riot. During her escape, she proves to be smarter and more capable than many of the people around her. Sometimes, her decisions prove to be a detriment but she always has a second option in mind. The conflict of Isobel escaping and Riot trying to find her is like a chess or tennis match where both parties are evenly matched.

Isobel and Riot's plots are so well developed that it's actually enjoyable when they do meet and unite and combine their talents. There isn't much in the way of romance so much as a sharing of equals who could be a great team.

To paraphrase the famous closing line of Casablanca, this looks like the start of a beautiful partnership.

Weekly Reader: The Eidola Project (An Eidola Project Novel) by Robert Herold; Historical Horror Brings The William James Gang Together Again-For The First Time

 

Weekly Reader: The Eidola Project (An Eidola Project Novel) by Robert Herold; Historical Horror Brings The William James Gang Together Again-For The First Time

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Earlier this year I reviewed Moonlight Becomes You by Robert Herold. It was a historical supernatural mystery in which William James, co-founder of the American Society for Psychical Research, forms The Eidola Project which investigates unusual phenomena in post-Civil War America. Accompanying him are Annabelle Douglas, James' assistant, Sarah Bradbury, a medium and former carnival performer, Dr. Edgar Gilpin, an African-American scientist and inventor, and  Nigel Pritchard, a Confederate vet with precognitive abilities. In Moonlight, the quintet investigated a series of werewolf attacks in a small Virginia town while also fighting the KKK, mistrust from locals because of their multiracial and unisex makeup, and their own suspicions, prejudices, and biases. 

The Eidola Project, the first book in the series, takes us back in time to the James Gang's first meeting and their backstories that created those suspicions and biases. They also investigate the home of Lenore Hutcheson, a reclusive heiress whose home is haunted by malevolent spirits. 

There are some very creepy moments spread throughout the book. Sarah and Nigel's visions are terrifying. Most notable is Sarah's vision of practically drowning in a pool of blood and Nigel offering her his hand (resulting in their meeting with Nigel). The ramifications are even more eerie when the vision comes true and involves a trip between worlds and a face to face with scary creatures. 

There are plenty of scary spirits as soon as the Eidolas enter the Hutcheson household, some that do physical and psychological harm to our protagonists. Sarah gets possessed by a ghost and almost tricks herself and her friends to jump off a cliff. Another apparition gets into a fight with Nigel causing him to harm himself. That's not even going into the ending when one of the characters is caught alone with the Big Bad of the story.

As with Moonlight Becomes You, The Eidola Project uses supernatural horror as a metaphor for real life conflicts in 19th century America. In Moonlight Becomes You, racial issues are upfront with the presence of the KKK, segregation, and the arguments between Nigel and Edgar. Race is important in this book, particularly since it shapes Nigel and Edgar's feelings towards each other. There is a powerful dialogue between the two where Edgar reveals his past as a former slave and Howard University graduate that shows that even though Nigel believes that he is Edgar's superior because of his skin color, Edgar is much better in terms of character and intelligence.

This time the focus is on gender. Annabelle and Sarah's backstories are elaborated upon and show the forced limitations that they have been given and why they make the choices that they have made.

Annabelle is a highly intelligent woman who is just as dedicated in the pursuit of psychical science as James. However, she can never be regarded as highly as him. In this time period, she has very few chances to become a scientist or researcher in her own right.

Not only that, but Annabelle feels the stigma of being labeled a "spinster" which resurfaces with memories, possibly visitations from her late mother. She also harbors an infatuation with the very happily married James. She suppresses her emotions as tightly as women were required to in her day but her visions become a window to her tortured soul, opening up her fears and insecurities. It's no wonder that by the second book, Annabelle acquires an addiction to laudanum.

Sarah has baggage of her own. Her spiritualist skills come about when as a child, she heard the voice of a recently murdered girl. Most people fear her or think she's crazy, particularly her own family.

She ends up kidnapped and sold to a carnival. Sarah feels like an outsider among so-called normal people so she befriends the sideshow performers. Madame Tsuritsa, a fortune teller, takes her in hand and becomes a mentor to her. 

Sarah is used by many around her for her abilities. In many ways, she is similar to the real life Fox Sisters, two sisters that professed to have medium abilities and kick started the Spiritualist Movement. They were used and abused by many around them, particularly their older sister, Leah. One of the sisters confessed to faking the communications with the dead but the Spiritualists continued into the 20th century and today. Lily Dale, NY is the home of many spiritualists, even now.

Like the Fox Sisters, Sarah was exploited by the people around her. The carnival owner, Dodgerton, collects the money while she works and after Tsuritsa's death sexually assaults her. By the time Sarah meets the Eidola Project, she feels abandoned and used by nearly everybody, not to mention she possesses abilities that frighten her and could eventually drive her insane. 

Similar to Annabelle, Sarah's powers overwhelm her and could be destructive, but they also give her a measure of power and recognition. She may not have had those without her ability to communicate with the dead. She is able to free many of the repressed feelings that Annabelle, an ordinary woman of her era, has to bury.

Similarly, Lenore is also limited by her gender and physical characteristics. She has albinism so can barely leave her house and she is restricted by her status as a wealthy woman. She is also very religious and because of this is made to feel as though she is a worthless sinner. Like Annabelle and Sarah, Lena longs to find an escape and emotional release. There are too many spoilers connected to her but let's just say, her only companions are ghosts and that can certainly drive a person into rage.

The Eidola Project is a book filled with scares but the most frightening aspects are how many people, particularly women, are constrained and held by the roles and expectations that society holds for them. It takes the power of the dead to bring the real people underneath those constraints to come forward.

 

Weekly Reader: Champagne Charlie and The Amazing Gladys by B.G. Hilton; Steampunk Science Fiction Delivers Crazy Good Fun

 Weekly Reader: Champagne Charlie and The Amazing Gladys by B.G. Hilton; Steampunk Science Fiction Delivers Crazy Good Fun

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: B.G. Hilton's historical fiction novel, Champagne Charlie and The Amazing Gladys is sort of what would happen if a Steampunk Convention spilled all over the place. There are top hats, goggles, gears, telescopes, 19th century costumes, early aircraft, submarines, hot air balloons, mad scientists, illusionists, music hall performers, amateur noble detectives, and aliens from the Moon and Jupiter everywhere as far as the eye can read. It's a cornucopia of Victorian Adventure Steampunk fun. It flies off the rails and things get extremely crazy but it's one of the most enjoyable books that I read this year.

Edward "Champagne Charlie" DeCharles is the son of Admiral DeCharles late of the Royal British Navy and his wife, a society matron with a colorful past. On one of his nights out of carousing and drinking, Charlie strikes up a conversation with the hansom cab driver who later that night turns up murdered. Charlie takes it upon himself to investigate the murder.

Meanwhile, "The Amazing" Gladys Dunchurch, a magician's assistant's boss, Abu bin Abdulla, better known by his real name, Gruffydd Pritchard, is missing. It might have something to do with his wand which both Gladys and Gruffydd insist is really magical. 

After that, well, it gets a bit complicated to explain. Just that there are Irish pirates, an insane nobleman who wants to destroy the moon, and space aliens who look like a combination of humans and bats get involved. Charlie and Gladys team up for their separate investigations which actually end up tied together while being caught in the middle of all of this oddball weirdness.

This book is extremely crazy like Hilton wanted to throw as many plot points and tropes into the book to see what sticks. It should be a mess but somehow it works together. The messy convoluted plot adds to the charm and oddity to the book. It echoes the Victorian Adventure Novels of the era so effectively that one could swear it was written then. Remember the books like Around the World in 80 Days, War of the Worlds, Lost World, The OZ books, and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland are pretty out there. Champagne Charlie and The Amazing Gladys fits right in with those works perfectly.

The book is a great read with a lot of thrilling exciting details. It's the type of book where a priest joins in interrogating a kidnap victim. Sounds like a typical suspense until he flexes his bat wings and you remember what a weird world that you are reading about.

The book is filled with such touches like when an aristocrat monologues about his plan to destroy the moon. Of course logic dictates that would be impossible during the time period. (Not to mention how such a conquest would destroy the lunar cycle, weather, and result in the deaths of billions on Earth.) But evil villains bent on destruction don't exactly think logically about their plans do they? 

Much of the book involves the strangest stories spread during the Victorian Era. For example, the subplot involving Bats and Badgers like aliens actually was inspired by an article which described aliens on the moon that looked like badgers and bats. The article went viral but was later proven to be a forgery. 

Champagne Charlie and The Amazing Gladys is written to be the good kind of weird reading where the plot makes it seem like it could have happened in history. You just missed reading about it in school

Part of the reason that the book works so well is the lead characters. Charlie and Gladys have a winning relationship that develops throughout the strangeness. Despite being surrounded by odd plot developments, they are written so believable like these things happen to them all the time. A day flying on an early biplane to face pirates bent on taking Ireland from the English and stopping alien Bats and Badgers from conquering England is just a typical Tuesday for them.

Charlie and Gladys are on opposite sides of the economic scale. Charlie is a titled nobleman surrounded by wealth and privilege. Gladys is an Australian immigrant who would rather work in the Halls than accept the few menial jobs that a poor woman could do in the 19th century such as service. 

The duo get into arguments but build a friendship that builds on their strengths. Charlie may be as much of an upper class twit as Bertie Wooster but like Bertie, he has a large heart. How many aristocrats would go through such trouble to find the murderer of a cab driver? 

Gladys hasn't had as many advantages as Charlie has and they contribute to her cynical mistrustful nature. She has been held back by her illiteracy, but she is a brilliant woman whose sheer gutsiness and observational skill contrast with Charlie's kindness and connections to higher circles.

Refreshingly, Charlie and Gladys do not become a romantic couple. In fact they get involved with other people (both also good characters in their own right). They are more like a brother and sister which adds to their constant teasing but eventually loyal repartee. 

Besides the plot and characters, the theme of illusion plays a strong part in the book adding to the strangeness. Magic and science fiction combine as if they were the same energy, which technically they are. The science aspects are technological in a way that an old novel or sci fi movie are. That's why Gruffydd's wand proves to be necessary to the Bats and ultimately to the mission. Energy is energy and whether it's science or magic works. It's part of the illusion that science can be mistaken for magic and vice versa.

The constant theme of illusion runs throughout the book where no one is what they seem. The Bats and other aliens disguise themselves as typical English citizens, some more successfully than others.  One of the characters was an amateur detective and has settled into upper class respectability. 

As part of his magic career the Welsh Gruffydd assumes the role of a Middle Eastern sorcerer, Abu bin Abdullah. This is no doubt based on William Ellsworth Robinson, a white English stage magician that pretended to be a Chinese sorcerer, Chung Ling Soo, who died onstage during the bullet catching trick (which involved him catching a bullet with his teeth-gee I wonder what went wrong?). 

 Gruffydd hiding his ethnicity and sexuality (he is gay and has clandestine affairs with men) adds to the characters pretending to be something that they are not.

Champagne Charlie and The Amazing Gladys is a great book with a bizarre plot, great characters, and a winning theme. Combined these facets make it just like Gladys, amazing.

New Book Alert: The Amber Crane by Malve Von Hassell; Historical Fiction Merges The Thirty Year War and WWII Through Time Travel

 New Book Alert: The Amber Crane by Malve Von Hassell; Historical Fiction Merges The Thirty Year War and WWII Through Time Travel

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Malve Von Hassell's The Amber Crane takes a hard unflinching look at two wars that shaped European History: The Thirty Years War which lasted from 1618-1648 and World War II. The plot involves a young man experiencing both wars through time travel. (Yes it's yet another time travel book that I am reviewing this year with another one coming soon.) The time travel aspects are intriguing but what is most memorable is the reality of showing the suffering that young people go through during a long extended time facing war.

In 1644, Peter Glienke, a 15 year old apprentice amber maker, lives near Stolpmunde, the Province of Pomerania with his widowed father and mute sister, Effie. His older brother, Lorenz, was killed in the war and his mother essentially died of grief. He feels constrained by the demands of his apprenticeship which gives him orders on what to make and when to leave his village (which with the latter the answer is never.) Peter is cynical and hardened by the war around him. 

Peter's only release seems to be creating works of art with the amber. He finds a few pieces of amber on the beach and keeps them for himself and in the process commits several infractions and breaks a few laws.

 However the amber that Peter collects has unusual abilities. When he holds them and falls asleep, he is transported 300 years into the future into 1944. There he meets Lioba, a young woman who is separated from her parents and is fleeing to safety with a gun in her hand ready to take on soldiers. 

 Peter transports between his present and future with the travel constantly draining him as he is caught between two worlds. He finds his family in the 17th century and his new friends in the 20th century and only he can help.

The Amber Crane is detailed in describing the life of someone in the 17th century, particularly guild members. The guild gives Peter training to use and make amber into various things. He makes several small figures like an amber heart and crane. His Master Nowak oversees his work and gives him assignments. As an apprentice, Peter is constrained by restrictions that are given by his Master Nowak and by the Mayor which also contribute to the ramifications to him finding and keeping amber. He is forbidden to travel or leave the village.The mayor orders civilians to stay away from the beach and the guild regulations require all amber turned in. By keeping the amber, Peter risks potential imprisonment, permanent banning from the guild, or banishment.

Nowak finally recommends Peter to ascend to the journeyman level which allows for more freedom to travel and work.  Peter is clearly glad for the extended freedom though guilt stricken about breaking regulations and worried about what it could mean for his family.

The other thing that The Amber Crane explores is the ramifications of how a long time war affects the people living during it. Peter has lived his entire life aware of this war. Even older generations have lived with it.

Neither Peter nor anyone else care who is in charge. Whether it's the Swedish or the Imperialists, the answer is always the same: more fighting. It's a common occurrence for supplies to be cut off and the people in Stolpmunde to go hungry. Random acts of violence are also frequent as when Effie is raped by a mysterious assailant.

In the 1940's, Peter recognizes the same issue with Lioba. She too sees no distinction between the Russian or German soldiers and will fight either if need be. War has desensitized both Peter and Lioba and they don't see an end to them. Some of the most heartbreaking moments concern the wars. Effie's rape has left her traumatized because she has already been unable to communicate with others except Lorenz. She completely shuts down and is unable to defend herself when she is accused of witchcraft.

In one chapter, Peter and Lioba enter the empty home of her uncle which is decorated the same as when he and his family left around Christmas. They enter a house with trees still up and decorations waiting for a joyous celebration which can never again be enjoyed by the people that once lived there.

In another uncanny resemblance between real life and art, it is heartbreaking to read about this fictional account of the Thirty Years War and World War II  and the real life happenings in Afghanistan. In the book and in life,  we have accounts of war that has lasted longer than most of the young population has been alive.  There are parallels between what Peter, Lioba, and the other characters in the book are going through and what many Afghan citizens and refugees are going through. It makes one wonder if, like Peter and Lioba, that they have experienced so much violence and death that it doesn't matter whether the soldiers are American, Afghan, or Taliban. They are soldiers who only bring death and destruction. 

The time travel aspects are slight. I was hoping for a stronger link between the two but perhaps the link is more thematic than plot worthy. Peter and Lioba are united by their cynicism and hatred for war. Their youth is over if it ever existed and now they despair about facing nothing but violence.

The Amber Crane could be a fantasy, but it's the reality of the lives in children during war that are most effective and memorable.

New Book Alert: Kalkota Noir by Tom Vater; Mystery Noir Peers Into Kalkota's Past, Present, and Future

 

New Book Alert: Kalkota Noir by Tom Vater; Mystery Noir Peers Into Kalkota's Past, Present, and Future

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Tom Vater's Kolkata Noir is a tribute to the city of Kolkata told in the style of a murder mystery noir novel. It's a three part structure in which two detectives, Madhurima Mitra and Becker, solve mysteries in the West Bengal capital over the course of forty years. Each mystery shows how Kolkata changes over the course of four decades. 

The first part "1999-Calcutta" is a murder mystery that could take place in an episode of an English cozy mystery. Richard Dunlop, an English expatriate, turns up missing and a Calcutta businessman, Abir Roychowdhury is reported murdered. Mitra and Becker interview potential suspects including Abir's widow, Paulami and brother, Kishore, and chase various leads that take them right into the homes of Kalkota's elite to get to the bottom of this case. 

The resolution of the mystery is pretty obvious but the characterization and milieu stand out in this section. Mitra in particular is an admirable lead protagonist. She is a bright ambitious young woman wanting to get ahead in a male dominated field in a country still set in a patriarchal society. She also has a family legacy to live up to: She is the niece of Feluda, the Bengali detective star of the novels by director/author, Satiyajat Ray. His reputation is legendary and Mitra wants to make her mark for her own benefit as well as fill his very large shoes. (Feluda's character is so prominent in Indian literature that it would be the equivalent of a young British detective trying to carry on the legacy of their Uncle Sherlock Holmes or Aunt Jane Marple.)

This section also reveals an India that even though it has been an independent nation since 1947, still holds onto the English class system and caste system from the Hindu religion. This part is an intended pastiche to the English drawing room mystery as a reminder of those days. Mitra and Becker visit the homes and interrogate Kalkota's wealthiest citizens who live in a separate isolated world from the people below them. There are still barely concealed hostilities between the English and Indian populations but mostly it's depicted with racist remarks and an entitled nature that claims dominance over others. The poorer areas are hidden away in the margins as though they live in a place far away and remote from the palatial mansions and marital troubles of the Roychowdhuries and the people around them.

The second part, "Kolkata-2019" takes place in those margins that were left behind by the elite of Part One. Becker is called back to India because an Englishman wants him to go to Kalkota to retrieve his wayward sons, Aubrey and Magnus Bilham-Rolls and bring them home. Aubrey and Magnus are not exactly receptive to the idea. The brothers have a sweet scam going on in which Aubrey assumes the role of Farangi Baba, a guru who claims to have a direct pipeline to Nirvana. Magnus handles the promotion and money while Aubrey wins over the crowd and reveals his version of the secrets of the universe, particularly where Mother Theresa hid her money. This particular story catches the attention of an impoverished public, several nationalistic groups, and violent people who would like to do away with the brothers and take the money for themselves.

Instead of the wealth experienced by the characters in Part One, Part Two shows the crippling poverty experienced in the poorer sections of Kalkota. The community is riddled with unemployment, homelessness, addiction, and various people who are without any sort of hope. It's no wonder that Aubrey and Magnus can so easily sway a crowd that is desperate for a miracle and need something to relieve their hard troubled existence. We also get a sense of people driven to violence and hatred directed at the various immigrants. They have been pushed around by the people on top and now they are pushing back violently if need be.

We also see how the years have changed Mitra and Becker. The two were briefly partnered but shared a mutual affection for each other. Now twenty years later, both have found professional success, Becker as a detective settled in England but acting as a liasion to India and Mitra has successfully climbed the ranks and became known as well as her uncle. Their personal lives are also marked by their previous case. Becker never married (except to his job) because he never forgot his beautiful and strong willed partner. Mitra however is married with an adult daughter but still carries a torch for her once partner. Their resumed romance adds on to the crime caper aspects experienced by the Billham-Rills Brothers in Part Two.

"Part Three: Killkata-2039" is the most influenced by the noir genre. It has a plot similar to a 1940's film but has a near futuristic science fiction setting  surrounding it. Becker receives a call from Davi, Mitra's daughter that her mother needs to leave Kolkata which is now largely underwater thanks to climate change caused flooding. Not only that but her father, Mitra's husband is missing. As a Muslim, he has been the target of several hate crimes and may have been kidnapped by an Anti-Muslim religious sect.

The Killkata setting shown in Part Three is one that has fallen into ruin. The city is ruined by environmental catastrophe. Besides the flooding, decades of chemical poisoning and radiation from war have taken their toll on the people. Those that haven't died from the poison have ended up with physical and psychological abnormalities such as a family of orphaned siblings that includes one sister with a large amount of testosterone that gives her a full beard and a hermaphrodite sibling. Racism has taken over as Anti-Muslim laws have prevented Muslims from finding employment and many ethnic groups are murdered in the streets. The wealthy have already abandoned the city leaving behind those who are too poor, too sick, or too protective of those that remain to leave.

While the setting is dystopian future, Mitra and Becker's romance and their plot is old Hollywood at its finest. There are dark shadowy figures who could be informants or assassins. There is a world weariness and cynicism as the detectives journey through the mean streets looking for any leads or suspects. This cynicism is played into their romance as the duo are no longer the young idealists that they once were. They have been hardened by the dark times and their profession. Justice is a faint memory and they no longer see the world as us vs. them black vs. white morality. Instead it's a gray world of mere survival. 

However, the duo still retain their selflessness and dedication to others as they prove in an ending clearly reminiscent of Casablanca. One of the pair leaves Kalkota forever while the other remains and continues to fight for the new surrogate family that they have formed.

With its engaging couple and detailed setting, Kalkota Noir is a brilliant mystery that exposes India's past, present, and future.

Weekly Reader: Mistress Suffragette by Diana Forbes; Fascinating Character Study of A Gilded Age Woman Turned Suffragist

 Weekly Reader: Mistress Suffragette by Diana Forbes; Fascinating Character Study of A Gilded Age Woman Turned Suffragist

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Mistress Suffragette by Diana Forbes is a historical fiction and brilliant character study about a young woman from a traditional Gilded Age family turned into a suffragist. Forbes explains exactly why many women turned to the suffrage movement because of societal pressures and unjust laws that treated them as second class citizens who lived without freedom of choice.

In 1893, Penelope Stanton is facing an arranged marriage forced by her parents. Her family was fabulously wealthy now they are facing potential genteel poverty because of the Financial Panic. Since they have two daughters, Penelope and her narcissistic sister, Lydia, Mr. and Mrs. Stanton force marriageable aged Penelope to search for eligible bachelors, so she can marry wealth and the family can move back up in status. 

Lydia looks forward to all of the handsome male attention but Penelope is not nearly as thrilled. As Penelope points out, she attends balls with all the excitement of someone with a gun pointed to their head. She feels less like a person to her parents and more like a piece of valuable jewelry that they want to pawn off to someone else. Her parents are practically pimping their daughters out in front of Newport, Rhode Island's most eligible bachelors.

 While Lydia is content to be married to a much older man, Penelope is raped by the already married businessman, Edgar Daggers. If she can't get married, her parents want to send her to work so they can help themselves to her earnings.

The Daggers want to hire Penelope as a secretary or governess for their future child which ensures that Penelope will never be safe from Edgar's leering eyes and wandering hands. However, her mother still encourages her union with Edgar reminding Penelope that "marriages don't last as long as they used to," even implying that she would still get a decent sum as an undeclared mistress.

It's a world of artifice, superficiality, and greed that Penelope's parents and Edgar are a part of and in which they want to sell their daughters. Penelope is screaming to get out and feels that no one is listening. It's no wonder that instead of accompanying The Daggers to New York, Penelope decides instead to move to Boston with her friend Lucinda to join the Suffrage Movement. Well Lucinda wants to join. Penelope is not quite sure yet.

When Penelope first arrives in Boston, she is confused by many of the suffragist's arguments, particularly about dress. She never thought about wearing a corset and assumed all women wore them. However, she sees Verdana Jones, a speaker and leader for the Movement, with her hair cut short and wearing bloomers and for the first time questions women's dress. Even though Penelope continues to wear a corset and traditional women's clothing through most of the book, the fact that she considers this question at all reveals her as someone who is beginning to look at women's roles more critically and objectively. She is even invited to speak at her first meeting in defense of corsets providing "structure and stability in a world about to unravel."

Penelope is hired by Verdana to recruit members and speak at conventions. Once she gains her voice, she becomes a vocal advocate for the suffrage movement.  

While navigating her way through the Suffrage Movement, Penelope meets a bevy of characters many of which are passionate about their causes: Her friend Lucinda becomes a card carrying feminist from the time they move in; Verdana provokes and amuses Penelope with her bisexuality, openly flirtatious manner, and militant outspokenness, Sam, Penelope's fifth cousin and ex fiance, is open enough to women's rights to become engaged to the very pushy Verdana; Stone Aldrich is an artist and illustrator whose realistic art depicts the reality of poverty in the cities like prostitutes, street kids, and trash cans; Amy Adams Van Buren Buchanan is a wealthy heiress who puts her money to good use by speaking out about important causes. These characters allow Penelope to view the world differently as she grows to admire their independent spirits.

Penelope's personal involvement increases when she experiences for herself the hold that society allows men to have over women. She and her colleagues are threatened by a neighbor and when the police won't do anything about it, she has to order him to leave them alone herself. Edgar continues to pester her and while he feigns support for the suffragists and gives Penelope a useful tip about Stone, who almost becomes Penelope's lover, , it is still clear that Edgar lusts after her and wants to keep her as his mistress. Later when Penelope returns to her family home in Newport, she realizes that her future brother in law uses duplicitous means to claim ownership over the family home. 

When the actions of men affect Penelope personally, she understands, truly understands, what the other suffragists were fighting for. Not just to wear comfortable dress without getting harassed. Not only for the vote. Not solely for legal rights to divorce, own property, or to have financial freedom. They are fighting for complete independence, the ability to choose their lives without conforming to some standard set by men. This realization turns Penelope into a dedicated member of the movement and allows her to change her own life.

Mistress Suffragette is a wonderful book about a woman who finally finds her own voice by speaking out for other women.

New Book Alert: Rhapsody by Mitchell James Kaplan; Lilting Jazzy Historical Fiction About Kay Swift, Brilliant Musician, Composer, and George Gershwin's Mistress

 New Book Alert: Rhapsody by Mitchell James Kaplan; Lilting Jazzy Historical Fiction About Kay Swift, Brilliant Musician, Composer, and George Gershwin's Mistress

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: The cliche "Behind every great man is a great woman" is outdated and demeaning especially when said woman is in the same field as the man. How many know that Zelda Sayres Fitzgerald wrote a novel called Save Me The Waltz and was a Surrealist artist? While many might know that Anne Morrow Lindbergh wrote Gift From The Sea, a spiritual and meditative series of essays that are considered a precursor to the environmental movement, few know that she was also an accomplished aviator and was the first woman in the United States to receive a glider pilot's license. 

Now also take the example of Katherine Faulkner "Kay" Swift (1897-1994).  She was a performer and composer of popular and classical music and was the first woman to score a hit musical completely. In fact, that musical, Fine and Dandy has produced several jazz standards including "Can't We Be Friends?" that are still performed to this day. Oh yes and her lover was also a noted composer of popular songs. You might have heard of him, George Gershwin.

Mitchell James Kaplan's historical novel, Rhapsody, brings Swift out from being an afterthought or a footnote in Gershwin's history and allows her to claim her own history. It is a beautiful lilting novel that is like a good jazz tune: independent, smooth, and unforgettable.

Swift was born to a family that included her music critic father, Samuel Shippen Swift who died when she was young. She was trained as a classical musician and composer at the Institute of Musical Art (now the Juilliard School.) She played with the Edith Rubel Trio, a classical trio. During a performance she met her future husband James Paul "Jimmy" Warburg, a banker and poet. The two married and had three children before Swift met Gershwin in 1925.

The two engaged in a long term affair. 

Swift was a musical advisor during his many productions and it was during their romance that Fine and Dandy was produced. Warburg also benefited artistically from Swift's interest in popular music by becoming Fine and Dandy's lyricist, under his pseudonym, Paul James. Swift and Warburg divorced in 1934 and Swift and Gershwin continued their relationship (though never married) and remained together until Gershwin's death in 1937.

Swift continued to work after the death of her lover. She and Warburg contributed songs to the musicals, The First Little Show and The Garrick Gaieties while they were still married. In 1934, Swift composed Alma Mater, a ballet for choreographer George Balanchine which was Balanchine's first original work with an American setting.

After Gershwin's death, Swift and his brother, Ira collaborated to complete and arrange his unfinished works such as Sleepless Night. 

Swift was also staff composer for Radio City Music Hall, wrote music for the Rockettes, provided the score for Cornelia Otis Skinner's one woman show, Paris '90', and wrote the book, Who Could Ask For Anything More? based on her second marriage to rancher, Faye Hubbard. (Who Could Ask For Anything More? was made into the movie, Never A Dull Moment starring Fred McMurray and Irene Dunne). 

Swift continued to transcribe, annotate, arrange, and perform Gershwin's music until her diagnosis of Alzheimer's in 1991 and death in 1993.

Kaplan's perception of Kay Swift is of a woman in love not just with Gershwin but with music. In fact, her romance with Gershwin is seen as more than a dalliance to satisfy carnal pleasures. It's a more emotional bond shared by two people who love music.

Swift's first encounter with Gershwin expresses that love beautifully. She hears him perform his piece, Rhapsody in Blue. She recognizes the sadness, exhilaration, and emotion expressed in the composition. Swift sees in Gershwin a soul mate and one with whom she can share a mutual language of music. 

Most of the book shows Swift at the forefront of Gershwin's most famous works. She and Warburg attend a performance of Lady Be Good (which coincidentally also features in another book that I am reviewing, Lady Be Good: The Life and Times of Dorothy Hale by Pamela Hamilton). He experiments with works like the American ballet, An American in Paris. 

Swift is supportive as Gershwin travels on his own to South Carolina, a trip that proves fruitful when he becomes fascinated with the novel, Porgy and the Gullah dialect of the African-American South Carolina community. The results are his magnum opus, Porgy and Bess which flopped in his lifetime but became a posthumous success and is still performed regularly on stage. (Constantly aware of the immense talent of African-American performers and concerned that any subsequent producers would try to recreate Porgy and Bess in blackface, Gershwin's will insisted that any performance of his musical featured only black performers. While Porgy bears some controversy because of Gershwin's authorship, it has also received praise for his understanding and support of the African-American community.) 

Swift also is on hand as he creates music for lighter musical comedies like Girl Crazy and Shall We Dance and that he harbors no distinction between his serious highbrow works and his lighthearted affairs. He quotes his friends Louis Armstrong and F. Scott Fitzgerald, "Why only fluffy entertainment or high art? Can't a great chef grill a burger once in a while?"

Gershwin's music and attention also propel Swift into a richer, more creative professional life. Before she met Gershwin, she was strictly interested in playing classical music, considering popular music predictable and trite. After she meets Gershwin, Swift sees popular music through different eyes and appreciates the emotion and work that composers and lyricists put into these memorable tunes.

When she plays Gershwin's music, Swift puts her own touches and improvisations making them her own. She also begins playing her own musical pieces that come into her head. Fine and Dandy ends up being an excellent lighthearted musical and is praised for its jazzy songs. Her composition, Alma Mater, combines inspiration from Ravel and Stravinsky to make her own work.

It's clear that Swift has an immense talent but not much opportunity to pursue it. Gershwin ends up being a catalyst for Swift to pursue her talents to independence and success.

Besides Gershwin, Swift meets many other people whose creative pursuits inspire her to put herself forward. People like Alexander Wollcott, Duke Ellington, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Josephine Baker, Nadia Boulanger, Arthur "Harpo" Marx, Maurice Ravel, Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Dorothy Parker, Fred and Adele Astaire, Eddie Cantor, and George Balanchine. (Oddly enough even though they traveled in similar circles, Rhapsody does not mention Dorothy Hale nor does the book, Lady Be Good mention Swift.) It's not just Gershwin that influences her, it's also these other people who inspire Swift to express herself freely through her music. 

This love is not shared with Warburg. Kaplan's writing doesn't turn Warburg into a bastard or irredeemable. He is more nuanced than that. He is a commendable lyricist and doesn't mind "sharing" his wife, having affairs of his own as well. Warburg is also seen as a victim of antisemitism being derided by Henry Ford as a "Jewish banker" and can see Hitler's tyranny even before it officially begins.

Warburg just operates on a different level from Swift and this creates a distance between them that continues to grow. He doesn't share her love of music or performing. Gershwin however shares that love of music, making him her soul mate. Gershwin and Swift share the same passion for music and bring out that passion in each other.

People reading Rhapsody will know about George Gershwin going in but once the book is closed they will come to understand Kay Swift. This is the perfect book to make Swift move to center stage.